


Love Me When I’m Gone

by Starchild1



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Abuse, Eventual Fluff, F/M, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Past Abuse, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-03-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:07:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23114425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starchild1/pseuds/Starchild1
Summary: Everyone thinks they know the story of Loke and Aries, but do they really know how it went down? After all, every story has multiple sides, not just Leo’s but Aries as well. Also, we don’t really know what happened in those three year Leo was on Earth. Or, what happened after the battle with Angel.An in-depth look into the story of two literal star crossed lovers.
Relationships: Aries/Loke (Fairy Tail)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 43





	Love Me When I’m Gone

**Author's Note:**

> Please read the tags! This fic has depictions of both physical and emotional abuse. 
> 
> Rating is also for language
> 
> Also note that this fic will have multiple chapters I just haven’t figured out how to not make it complete

Wake Me Up When September Ends

Summer has come to pass,  
The innocent can never last,  
Wake me up, When September Ends

\- Green Day  
___________________________

Twenty days. Aries thought, looking up to the dull sky that made up the celestial world. Its millions of stars no longer contain the same appeal they once had. It didn’t seem like a lot, but to Aries it was more than enough time. Because even so much as one day her time was one too many. One day in the celestial spirit world was three weeks on earth. Staying for so much as one day could be detrimental to a spirits health. 

Not that it will make any difference, she thought bitterly to herself. He’s stuck there either way, and it's all your fault. If you had just shut up and taken it, if you had never told anyone. If you had only lied about what had happened. No one would have gotten hurt, no one that mattered at least. 

It started with degrading names, being called pet or ewe. Nothing she hadn’t heard before from previous masters. But then it started to get worse, the second time she was summoned it didn’t last very long, even in Earthland time. She thought that she would be summoned in a combat scenario, that should be used to fight the enemy. She never thought she would be used as a shield. She didn’t even realize it was a purposeful event until it had continued to happen, three times in a row. Three times thinking you’re being useful only to be stabbed or shot at. To feel such a shear amount of pain that it blinds you, so much pain that you notice the shock first and then the pain. That your first reaction is to scream so loudly that it consumes you, until your being consumed by a being of light. Only for it to happen again. 

But her troubles didn’t start there. Trouble really began with Leo asking her why she always came back so quickly, why she always looked so scared all the time.  
She tried to brush it off, say it was nothing and then change the subject. 

It didn’t last very long; Karen had started using her to ward off suitors whenever and wherever she wanted her too. Aries would always speak out about how celestial spirits were made for combat, and how she didn’t like the idea of doing this. One night however, it was particularly bad; a bunch of drunk men started grabbing her and sticking their hands all over her, calling her names and telling her what they wanted to do to her. It was the most humiliating and frightening moment of her life. She had only ever liked the attention from Leo and it was never like this. It was always mutual, she always had the option of saying no. That was not in the cards for her now, it wouldn’t be in the cards for another three hours, when Karen finally felt exhausted enough to let her go. 

There was no hiding it from Leo, as soon as she got back she went to their home in tears over what had happened to her. He didn’t ask any questions, just held her in his arms while she cried and cried and cried.  
She must have cried herself to sleep for the next thing she knew she was lying on the couch by herself. She sat and looked around, smelling food she decided to walk towards the kitchen. When she got there she saw a familiar head of orange poking out in every direction. Leo was grumbling over the stove, no doubt trying to cook something. It almost made her smile how cute everything was. The clean dress shirt he was wearing yesterday was now completely crumbled and his black pants were wrinkled. He must have noticed her presence because he turned over his shoulder with a slightly confused look on his face, that melted into a smile upon seeing her. 

“Well there goes my surprise,” He says jokingly. 

She manages a weak smile, “I think it would have been ruined anyway, you don’t really seem to know what you’re doing.” 

“Hey, I would have figured it out.. Eventually.” 

“Why of course.” she replied sweetly, with a hint of sarcasm 

He smiled softly at her, his eyes holding both kindness and sympathy. It was almost like he thought she was made of glass in a way, a menagerie that had a crack in it. 

“Listen, there is something we need to talk about, I won’t push you for anything you don’t want to tell me, you can just not answer at all. But I think that Karen has been miss treating you for awhile now, “ He looked up at her, his hazel eyes meeting her dark plum ones, “Is that true?” he asked gently. 

Aries froze, fear rushing through her body, pinning her in place like how a shoe pushes an ant to the ground. She thought for a second that she would end up like the ant, that this all consuming fear would crush her. Her throat was contractioning and her stomach was one pig knot. Tears cascaded down her face rapidly, making room for the panic that flooded her mind. 

“Hey, Hey, Ari… It’s okay, I’m sorry.” 

“It’s gonna be okay, I promise, I won’t let her hurt you again.” 

How? She cried, how? Celestial Spirits couldn’t hurt their masters unless under the influence of mind control or something similar to that. 

They couldn’t do anything to stop it, was it even anything worth stopping? 

Maybe she deserved it. Didn’t she? 

A gentle touch on her cheek brought her back to reality. Looking up she saw that Leo was within arms length. 

“Is this all right?” he whispered 

It took Aries a second to realize what he ment, he wanted to know if she was okay being this close to her. The thought made Aries heart melt a bit. 

She nodded in affirmation. He then started to wipe some of the tears off her face, she was about to apologize for crying when he beat her to the punch. 

“It’s okay to cry about it, there’s nothing wrong with crying.” 

“C-can you.. Can you hold me closer, p-please” 

He smiled gently, “Anything for you.” 

Carefully, he brought her closer to him. Gently rapping his arms around her. 

“You don’t deserve to be treated like that Aries, no one deserves that kind of treatment. Especially not from someone you’ve sworn to look after.” 

Leo’s words stuck with Aries, she promised herself from then on that she would try and voice her concerns more openly. After all, things could only get better, right?

The worst night of her life happened a few weeks later, Karen thankfully had summoned Aries for a while, having been on vacation and not needing her. Unfortunately, Karen still didn’t see Aries like a person; once again Aries had been summoned to “entertain” a flock of gentlemen for her master while she sat at the bar. Once again, Aries voiced her disdain about this particular task her master seemed fond of giving her. 

“Not this again,” she cried 

“Please master, I’m a celestial spirit, I’m not built for this kind of thing!” she begged to deaf ears. 

Karen’s face turned to stone, Her eyes a story of greek fire, her voice drizzled with fury, “You’re not talking back to me are?!” she hissed, her voice carrying the same might as lion’s roar. 

Aries tensed, fearing that she would not only have to face the suitors but Karen now as well, decided not to make matters worse. 

“N-no ma’am” she piped out. 

Karen slithered back into her usual coy and sophisticated front, “Good,” she said, “Now sit back while I have a drink.” 

She could almost feel her words smothering her, like the words themselves were patting her head. 

So much for trying, she thought, now I have to deal with both of them.  
At least the men are sober, she thought. You’re going to have to face the wrath of drunk Karen later. 

She looked at the crowd of men around her and started to feel a bit claustrophobic. They were all swarmed around her, no better than a bunch of bees. That’s when an idea hit her, a way to keep them at bay while at the same time not disobeying orders. 

“Would you like to see some magic?” she asked the crowd. 

They seemed to like the idea, their eyes widening in anticipation and a plethora of nods and yeses filled the room. 

“Okay,” she said, “Here goes.” 

She readied her stance, holding one hand up in the air while the other rested on her hip. “Fluffy wool attack.” she yelled softly. 

“Wow!” 

“It's so soft!” 

“Is this what a cloud feels like?” 

She laughed softly hearing their responses, it was nice knowing that her plan had worked. 

Her plan didn’t last long as she looked across the lounge to see that her master was glaring angrily at her from across the bar. Ah oh, she knew that look, she was in trouble again. But why? I did what she asked, was I just supposed to suffer in silence? Was this actually some kind of sick joke I twisted my way out of?

Whatever it was, she was about to know; as Karen glared at her and then marched out of the room, all while maintaining the grace she pretends to have. Knowing she was expected to follow, she made her way across the checkered floor, apologizing to the men as she passed. She followed her master through lavish halls leading to the living spaces. Karen still kept up appearances the entire time, smiling and laughing at everyone she came across, as if she wasn’t going to hurt anyone as soon as she got into her room. 

The hundred mile walk to Karen’s apartment was coming to a close they soon reached a familiar door. It was rectangular with pale white columns on the sides of it and ornate designs scribed onto the frame. Karen smiled and waved at one last person, a wizard she thought to be Hibiki, before opening the door and shoving Aries inside. 

The ornate room felt no better than a prison cell. Its white walls reflected a slaughterhouse, with the couch acting as an employee work room and the columns acting as a place she could be hung or strapped to. The striped animal skin rug on the floor reflected her fate as she would probably end up on the cold harsh tile at some point during this. 

“You bitch!” 

Aries turned around to face her when 

SMACK 

She was knocked to the ground with a direct hit to the face. She hardly had time to brace herself for the fall and ended up hitting her arm on the tile floor. Well that was quicker than I thought. I was expecting to get yelled at for a bit longer before hitting the floor.  
She looked up to see Karen glaring at her with a wicker riding crop that was heart shaped at the end. 

“You stupid little bitch!” She yelled again, bringing the crop down once more. 

“Did you honestly think I wouldn’t find out what you did?!” 

“I- I’m sorry Master, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” she said. 

“Don’t play dumb, you told the master about what I was doing to you!,” she yelled, “You made him angry with me!” 

Aries pushed herself up,”What?!” she exclaimed in what would have been the normal volume for someone else, “Master Bob? I don’t even know what he looks like!” 

It was true, she only even knew his name because she had overheard someone talking to Karen about him. 

Karen didn’t seem to believe her. Karen’s pupils shrunk and her eyes’ narrowed. 

“Oh please, like I would ever believe that, “She licked her lips and moved the crop up and down in her hand, “I’m going to make sure you suffer for this one.” 

She then switched the riding crop out for a pair of chains. She had the same sadistic look on her face that she had earlier, only this one was a bit more self satisfied, like she knew she would get what she wanted out of it. This cannot be good. She thought with a sense of foreboding, this won’t end well for me. 

“What are those for, ma’am?” she asked, terror slipping in through her voice. 

“I’m going to hold you right here in the human world for seven days.” 

Aries mind went blank with fear. Celestial Spirits were pretty much immune to everything, old age, illness, pretty much all wounds,etc. However they did have a major weakness, if they stayed in the human world for too long of a time, they would fade away forever. This could kill me, this will kill me. 

“Seven days!!” she exclaimed, “Will your magic even last that long?!” she realized after she said that it might not have been the best thing to say given this situation. 

Karen didn’t seem to care though, she was the cat that got the canary, too self-satisfied with what was to come to even let it phase her. 

“Oh I’ll be fine. You on the other hand,” she paused for effect, “Well, I’ve always wanted to know what three days in the human world would do to a spirit, I guess I’m going to get my wish.” 

Aries was shaking. This was taking it too far, the hits and the names and being used as a shield. All of it was horrible, but this was her life. Karen was willing to let her die for the sake of something she didn’t even do. No, that was just an excuse so she could use her as an experiment for others. 

Leo, please help me! 

Her cry is answered when suddenly she finds herself back into the celestial world, standing right in front of Leo. 

“W-what happened?” She asked dumbfounded. 

“How did I-“ Aries was interrupted as Leo tilted her face up slightly so that their lips would meet in a chaste kiss. He put their foreheads together and said, 

“Remember, I promised I wouldn’t let her hurt you anymore.” 

His eyes meet hers, trying to memorize her face as if he would be away for a while. 

“I have an idea, it's a risk but I want you to trust me. I love you more than anything else Aries and I want to make sure that this doesn’t happen to you. Or any other spirit she might hurt.” 

And then a gold shimmer started to cover his body, before fully engulfing him, sending him back to earth in her place. 

What is he doing?!! 

Aries used her magic to open a window to Earthland, she put her hands together in front of her body and pushed them to the side, creating a gold shimmer where the window would open. 

The window started to form, painting the scene that was in front of her. Leo was standing right behind Karen, his hand trapping her wrist in a death grip. His eyes’ glaring at her as if she was nothing but an insect. His face was stone cold. 

“She didn’t run away, I switched places with her,” he said. 

Aries’ eyes widened, Why would he do that? 

Aries’ most have missed something, because the next thing she heard was, “Because I will not be going back until the demands are met, however long that will take.” Leo said firmly. 

No.  
No

Oh Leo please be careful. 

For some reason Karen’s fear melted, instead a smug look appeared on her face, “Uh, yeah right. 

“Listen I might be strong but there’s no way I can hold out for that long. I’ll be out of magic power in about a week. So nice try but that ain’t gonna work out very well for you.” 

Leo was unmoved by this knowledge, “That’s where you’re wrong,” he said simply, “because I used my own magic power to get here, so I won’t be affected when you lose all of your’s.” 

NO  
NO  
NO  
NO! 

He couldn’t do that, he can’t be serious! This is crazy he’ll die before she even considers it! 

“If you need me,” he continued, turning to walk out the door, “I’ll be in the old church ruins just outside of town.” 

The only sound in the room was the sound of his heels hitting the tiles as the two stunned women watched as Leo walked out the door with his head held high.” 

No, I have to talk him out of this! It’s too risky he’ll die! 

She closed the window and opened her own portal right in front of Leo’s path. 

He jumped a bit when she appeared, clearly expecting her to be back in the celestial world and not one of Blue Pegasus' guild hall. 

“Aries I di-” 

Before he could finish Aries cut him off, “What are you doing?” she cried. 

“This will get you killed! You can’t do this, I'm not worth it, it’s not worth it!” she pleaded.

“Yes it is! I believe that there’s some good in her, that deep down she’ll let us free and we can just be happy together. We won’t have to worry about her hitting you or anyone else ever again.” 

Aries stutterd tears going down her face, “B-but w-hy?” 

“Why n-not t-t-tell me ab-ab-out this? W-why- not-” she couldn’t even get the rest of her sentence out before bursting into tears. 

Leo looked more hurt than he had in his whole life, like he had been slapped in the face repeatedly. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want you to worry, I’ll be back soon I promise. Besides I'm not doing this only for you, so many others are afraid of her and how she treats our kind, I can’t just ignore our people Aries. Not like this.” 

Aries looked up, “You and your honor, I swear it might just be the death of you one of these days.” 

Leo looked into her eyes and said, “I won’t let that day be today, or any other day. Not while I have you waiting for me.” 

Aries began to notice just how close the two of them were standing, how his face was a mere inch away from hers. Slowly the two met in the middle, their lips connecting in a sweet kiss as their arms slowly clung to the other person, not wanting to let go. Time seemed to stand still for them, as if nothing existed outside of the small pocket of space the two shared. 

Unfortunately, nothing could ever last forever. The two broke apart and gently rested their heads together while still wrapped in eachother’s warm embrace, only to exchange an “I love you” that was all too short before going their separate ways. 

Time limped across the calendar with each day Leo spent in the Human world. His life force slowly drained away from him. Until one day, three months into this endeavor, when things truly got worse for him, when time seemed to sprint by in the blink of an eye. 

For on this day, April 23rd Karen had attempted to summon Aries in a battle against another wizard, even though her knees were buckling and she was shaking from the efurt it standing took alone. The day Karen finley passed out due to exhaustion. The day Karen was killed. 

Aries could feel it, how her portal had shattered, how the sense of foreboding had just disappeared in a huff of smoke. She didn’t want to admit it at first but she knew what happened, she knew that her master was gone. What she didn’t know was how she was feeling, she expected to feel grief, she had always felt at least a small amount of grief when a master died. Instead she didn’t feel anything almost as if it didn’t happen, like Karen’s death was just a leaf blowing in the wind. Even worse, Aries also later recognized another reason for her guilt, she had also been feeling happy. She was happy that she was gone and now everything would be right again. 

Only it was never that easy, Aries had just left the frying pan and was about to enter the fire. It turns out that Leo’s protest was inadvertently the cause of Karen’s death; and according to celestial law any spirit who breaks that law under any means was banished from the celestial world, forever. Leo was never coming home. 

Aries cried when she heard the verdict, it was one of her responsibilities as a Zodiac to act as a jury in such instances. It only made her feel worse, knowing that she would play even more of a hand in Leo’s exile. Her and that horrible woman were to blame for all of this, especially her. That horrible woman had ruined everything. 

Leo looked like a kitten who had been kicked more than the proudly lion he usually was. Everyone was shocked by this, horrified as their leader turned into a beaming yellow haze and fell down from Heaven, never to return. 

Then the real kicker happened, the final punch line on this great big joke was said when Aries was immediately called down to Earth after the trail by her new master, demanding to know why the other Zodiac key had faded. Her voice was accusing, as if she knew that Aries had just committed some kind of crime. 

“Well, I’m waiting darling.” she called, her voice almost seemed mocking with how wonderful it sounded. 

That alone was enough to tell Aries everything; she had been given to another owner who would only treat her like a toy, like an object, and this time she had no Leo to hide behind.  
She just broke, it was all too hilarious the joke that fate had played on her, how everything had been for nothing. How Leo’s life had been pushed aside for nothing. 

She just had to laugh, just laugh about it as loud as she could. It was all just some sick joke, there was no other way to explain it. This was all just some sick joke that fate had played on her. 

Her owner didn’t seem to get what was so funny as her brows creased in the middle and a sour look appeared on her face, “What is this all about, I asked you a question now answer me you fool!” 

Oh gosh, she was so much like Karen that it made her laugh more. She was almost on the floor laughing, tears rushing down her face at what had happened. 

“Answer me!” she demanded, “I command you as your master to answer me you to stupid lamb.” 

It took a few minutes but Aries was able to calm herself down enough that she could tell her master everything, how the king of the zodiac had passed in an effort to spare her from Karen and how she was now stuck with someone like her. 

Her master seemed shocked by this but then a content smile spread across her face, “Well it took you long enough. Anyway, that information may serve to be useful to me. You can go now.” she said, waving her off. 

Aries blinked at her in confusion. 

“I’ll summon you on Wednesdays and Fridays and you’ll be grateful for it now.” she flicked her hand once for in a leaving motion, “Now go back to the spirit world and don’t bother me for a while.” 

That lead back to where Aries was now, her master didn’t have much faith in her, and their relationship still wasn’t the best meaning the amount of range she had in the spirit world was severely limited despite the amount of time they had been together. Fortunately enough for Aries, she didn’t seem to care about a lot of things anymore, space being one of them. After she went hysterical in front of her master the only thing left in her was guilt over the incident. The only person she blamed more than Karen was herself, and even then it was only by a small margin that she was able to pull that off. 

Since Karen was already dead the only thing she could do was punish herself; she just spent most of her time looking out at the stars, never socializing with the others, never going any fancy places to eat. She was in isolation of her own making, her own self imposed exile for what she had done to Leo. Knowing that she could no longer check up on him, never tell if he was dead or alive. Instead she just looks up at the stars and dream up a “what if” of a future she would never get to see. 

This was it for her, her home was now a prison of her own design. A where she could grieve over the loss of her love, where she could mourn for someone who wasn’t even truly dead yet.  
A place where if she closed her eyes, she could still hear his laughter, still feel the touch of his hand in hers. A place where those beautiful eyes outshone the sky still. A place where she can pretend, for only a minute, that Leo was safe. A place where she could just doze off and wake up with Leo next to her. 

A place where it was all truly, over.


End file.
